5. Whether you are running from something (old age, weight gain) or toward something (distance goals, finish lines), running helps teach you how to set realistic goals and achieve them.

4. Running FORCES you to be honest. At the end of the day, the clock will say exactly what it says. You can’t fudge your way around it. And especially in races, results are POSTED. Don’t you wish that happened at work sometimes?

3. How many times have you WANTED to play in the rain, but as an adult you felt you shouldn’t? Now… how many times did you RUN in the rain this year? Running gives us an excuse to play. It’s a shame we need one, but I’m glad it works!

2. With lives full of jobs, kids, soccer practice, ballet lessons, timelines, deadlines, traffic and all the rest, it is easy to get consumed. Running is for US. Maybe it’s selfish, but so be it. We deserve it. Running teaches us to be good to ourselves and that personal time is just as precious as the rest of it. There is NO OTHER THING on this planet that I would purposefully get up every morning at 4:45 to do. But you couldn’t beat me off of my morning runs. It’s a sacrifice I willingly make for me.

1. Running provides opportunities to meet people like no other sport. Think about this. You show up at a point in time with 200 to 45,000 other complete strangers, yet you already have one very consuming passion in common. You do this thing alone, experiencing the highs and lows, battling yourself, the elements and everything else, but yet you are together. At the end you share stories with these same strangers but due to the nature of the sport, your pace has sorted you into like groups so now you have gone from alone with strangers to standing in a group of new friends with common interests, shared ability levels and a just finished common experience to compare. For friendship, just add Gatorade!

LATER…

Hey… wait… I forgot something. I hate cliche as much as the next guy, but I have to admit this one truth: (In running) it’s not the destination… It’s the journey. I spent nearly a year getting my fat butt back into good enough shape to run a marathon that lasted (for me) 4 hours. An entire year (the journey) of challenge, triumph, setback, sacrifice, friendship, self doubt and newfound confidence. Over a thousand miles logged and countless hours on track, road and trail. All for 4 hours…

Going for a run… BBS!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am and is filed under fitness, Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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